Chapter 1279: Avoiding (3)
With a sigh, Li Jinghua said, "The situation is different this time. I’m afraid even His Majesty and King Rong didn’t anticipate this."
As it was chaotic when they overthrew the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty and exterminated the bandits, there was no need to reason at the time. The courtiers had never thought of talking about etiquette and morals to the Emperor and King Rong. They only needed the army to crush them.
When they were dealing with the aristocratic families, they had just quelled the rebellion and the country had yet to stabilize. At that time, Qi Haoran’s hands were stained with too much blood, and the Emperor was a military general filled with killing intent. As long as the brothers stepped forward and showed their attitude, even if the courtiers objected in their hearts, they did not dare to express it.
Li Jinghua said in a low voice, "The policy that affects their interests the most is the cancellation of the juren and officials’ unlimited exemption from farm taxes. At that time, there were people who objected, but because the country had yet to completely stabilize, they were afraid that they would risk losing their lives in the war. King Rong and His Majesty’s iron-blooded methods were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which was why this policy could be successfully carried out. But now that more than ten years have passed, under His Majesty’s benevolent rule, the officials have long forgotten his and King Rong’s ferocity. They have also grown ambitious, which is why they are so bold!"
Although the regulatory reform would put officials under more scrutiny and relax the control of the commoners, when it came to harming interests, it was actually about the unlimited tax exemption for those whose titles had been abolished back then. The officials probably thought of this and that was why they objected so intensely this time.
After all, their interests had been stripped away by the Emperor bit by bit. If they agreed to the new official system whereby the officials would be subject to more supervision now, what power of discourse would they have in front of the Emperor in the future?
As a bystander who had never been directly involved, Li Jinghua could see more clearly than Qi Xiuyuan and the others.
Back then, with regards to the abolition of the exemption on land tax for scholars holding the title of juren and above, Mu Yangling was the one who proposed it while Qi Haoran was the one who presided over it. Now, the officials bore resentment towards them for both old and new grudges.